Birth of a Kaiba
by KaibaGirl007
Summary: Collection of short stories with each chapter revolving around the birth of one of Mokuba or Seto's children. Part of the 'Doctoring the Blue Eyes Saga'. Chapter 3 - Tragedy. Seto finds himself helplessly waiting at the hospital whilst history seems to be repeating itself. Little does he know of the true heartache in store for him.
1. Twins

**This story is part of my Doctoring the Blue Eyes saga (for full reading list see my profile)**

**This chapter is set after chapter 44 of Doctoring the Blue Eyes **

**I own no rights to YuGiOh, Doctor Who, or Torchwood 'cause I'm poor :P**

**Enjoy :) **

**Chapter One**

Mokuba was seated behind the desk in his KaibaLand office giving his brother a demonstration of the problems that had been constantly occurring throughout the day. His fingers raced across the keyboard entering his commands but as soon as he right mouse clicked on his chosen work the screen burst into chaos as multiple programs automatically set themselves up to run. "See, it goes crazy every single time!"

Standing behind his seated brother Seto glanced at him with raised brows. "You mean it's not supposed to do that?"

"I'm being serious here!" The younger brother was less than impressed by the other's joking. "I've done everything I could possibly think of and still there's no change. I need your expertise on the issue."

"Right, let me see what I can do."

The two men switched places and Seto himself tried to get the programme working correctly.

"So is it some kind of hack?" Mokuba asked anxiously as he watched the screen spew out more unwanted windows for his brother. "How serious do you think it is?"

"Just leave it to me." Seto assured that the problem would be dealt with. "If all else fails then I'll just reboot everything from scratch."

"Don't you think I've tried that already?"

"In that case then I think a full system wipe and upgrade is what's needed. Plus that way I can make sure any areas that have been neglected are brought up to date too."

"Neglected?" Mokuba was appalled at the word his brother had used. "As in you don't think I'm capable of maintaining my corporation?"

"Those are your choice of words, not mine."

"Seto!" He had no idea where his brother had attained such a,- even more so than usual,- strange and deadpan sense of humour from lately.

"Your backup files?"

"Bottom draw." Mokuba revelled the location of the discs that had been requested as he indicated to his brother's right. "Okay I'll admit that I'm not up to the same caliber as you when it comes to these things, but I'm certainly capable of ..."

"Relax Mokie, I'm not questioning your capabilities in the slightest." He assured as he rummaged through the cluttered draw and winced when he felt something sticky. "I'm more than aware of what you can and can't do."

"Sorry, my bad." The younger brother apologised for the red gooey piece of candy that was now attached to the other's fingertips.

Calmly Seto discarded the previously forgotten treat, - _I thought he'd grown out of doing that?_ - and continued with the rummage once more. "Besides, what kind of a brother would I be if you couldn't call on me every … now … and … again?" His words became more spaced out at having caught sight of the blister pack of blue diamond shaped pills.

Turning where he sat Seto looked at his younger brother. "Is there something you want to tell me?" He asked whilst placing down the stack of CDs and papers onto the desk.

"Like w-what?" Mokuba stuttered nervously at his brother's questioning glance.

Seto couldn't bring himself to ask outright about the viagra he had seen and concluded that neither could his brother. That was why it had been left there for him to find to help raise the awkward issued. "I promise that I won't think any less of you."

"Good ..." Mokuba hesitated for a moment and tried not to let his eyes be drawn to the huge purple rose letterhead trapped amongst the pile on his desktop. "Because I was certain that after the feud you two had ..."

"Feud?"

"With Siegfried."

Confused Seto followed the now swift back 'n forth of his brother's eyes and saw the letterhead himself. "You're in cahoots with the Schroeders?!" He exclaimed as all other thoughts escaped him.

"No, of course I'm not!" Mokuba protested and should have known better than to assume his brother would remain calm. "Okay, yes Leon _is_ a business partner..."

"He's a Schroeder." The fact was spoken with an animus growl.

"And we're Kaibas!" The younger brother shot back, pointing out that neither family had descended from a past they had been proud of. "He's just like us; built his own company and reputation from scratch. You'd be hard pressed to find another roller-coaster manufacturer better than him and besides, he's my friend."

"I'm not going to lecture you on whose company you choose to keep." Seto attempted to restore some calmness by reluctantly backing down from the confrontation. "All I ask is that you don't forget what they nearly did to us."

"That was all Siegfried's doing." Mokuba argued back about the virus that had tried to delete Kaiba Corp in the past during their youth. It wouldn't be forgotten, though they had all moved on a lot since that time. "I can't believe that you tried to use that against him."

"I just want you to be cautious."

"You mean like you are with Pegasus?"

There was no response to the challenge made as Seto carefully began to delete the software from KaibaLand's mainframe.

"Have you forgotten what he _did_ do to us?" Mokuba pressed on with his contesting. "Not only the manipulation he still has on you but the things he did to you back then? The things he did to me?"

"Of course I haven't." The betrayal of his trust and the events of Duelist Kingdom were what made him keep a constant vigilance when it came to his once idol.

"Well it doesn't seem like it. All those dealings that you still do with him."

"It's unavoidable since Duel Monsters is involved." Seto snapped irritatedly at having his own decisions probed. "Or have you forgotten how important that is to me?"

"_Ha!_" His brother's reasoning was laughable. "So important that you went and sold all of your shares of the Duel Academy to him?" He received a narked yet somewhat startled look. "Yes Seto, I _do_ read the business news."

Now shamefully avoiding eye contact, Seto's fingers clattered on the keyboard in the silence that followed.

"Why?" Mokuba asked with a much calmer and empathetic tone. "That place was your dream Seto and you practically gave it to him. How could you discard something you love so easily?"

"I didn't discard it Mokie." There was an aching sigh at the thought of what had been done but knew that it needed to be so. "Truth is that yes, at one point Duel Monsters was one of my reasons for living, but life has changed and so have my priorities. I have Kisara now and Anathema. You know firsthand what it's like to not have my attention; I don't need multiple distractions to keep me from them. I'm sure you'd do the same for Rebecca and your kids if you had to."

"Oh my god, Becky!" Fear filled Mokuba as he checked his watch. "I lost track of the time. She's going to kill me if I'm not there by her side."

"Stop exaggerating. That woman worships the ground that you walk on and there's nothing you could possibly do to make her act otherwise."

"Yeah well, we'll see who's laughing once this is all over." Nerves gripped hold of the younger brother causing him to freeze where he stood.

"What time do they plan to operate?"

"Soon." Mokuba squeaked rather pathetically in response to the query of the Cesarean section that had been scheduled for that afternoon.

"Then you had better get a move on instead of standing here conversing with me."

No response.

Seto decided that sometimes his brother needed a kick up the ass, - quite literally, - to get things done. Breezily he swung the chair to his left with a leg out stretched so it made contact with Mokuba's behind. "Go on! Your wife needs you." He then indicated to the now blank screen and KaibaLand mainframe. "Don't worry, I've got this."

Mokuba nodded his thanks and agreement before he sped out of the room only to retrace his steps a few seconds later as his head peered around the door. "Bro? Are we good? I didn't mean to come across as confrontation..."

"We're good." Seto assured his brother with a genuine smile. "Now hurry before you miss your sons' births. Go greet them into this world."

"Yes." Mokuba gasped with a face now beaming with excitement and raced off for the hospital.

The office fell quiet and for the first time in months Seto felt somewhat alone as the joyous occasion caused old feelings to resurface. Would he always find it hard to accept that his brother was a grown adult with his own life and completely independent from him? _Maybe not completely independent, _He smirked to himself as he began to rebuild the mainframe.

Of course he would always be there. Mokuba had become a fine young man and member of society because of him. And although they continued to walk their own paths in life he would still remain in his role and duty of being the over-protective big brother. Set habits were hard to break, which was proven fact by the way his brother's partnership with the younger Schroeder continued to dwell on his mind. _Something isn't right. Mokuba may be convinced but I have a feeling that neither Schroeder can be trusted._

Not wasting a moment more he sided with his gut instinct and pulled the cell phone from his pocket to dial for help. It rang several times before it was answered. "Cardiff tourist information office, how may I help you?"

"Gwen?" Seto asked surprised at hearing the Welshwoman answer his call. "Where's Ianto?"

"It's his mam's funeral today."

"Of course." He sighed regrettably at having forgotten the death of his friend's mother that had once been mentioned in an e-mail between them. The cell phone was now placed between his ear and shoulder whilst his fingers danced across the keyboard. "In that case then, can you do something for me? I want a search done on a Leon Von Schroeder."

"And you can't do it yourself because?"

"I'm working on other things right now."

"So am I."

His fingers ceased for a while and now took control of the mouse, warily he asked, "You're doing a crossword puzzle aren't you?" There was no way Jack would have had her manning the phone line in tourist office if there was serious work to be done.

"Yep, and I'm stuck."

Seto stopped what he was doing and sloughed back in the chair. "Come on then, let's have it." He muttered whilst dramatic throwing a hand in the air as he struggled to keep his calm at her unspoken indication that her pointless task was more important than his.

"I need another word for hot tempered. Twelve letters; fourth letter T and eighth is an E."

"Cantankerous." He answered almost immediately.

"Ha-ha, thanks. That's a fiver Jack owes me for betting that I wouldn't be able to solve it."

"But you didn't, I did." He spoke tiredly, beginning to wish that he'd just used his cell phone to check for the information himself.

"Yeah but he doesn't need to know that. Just like old times right?"

A fond reminiscing smile uncontrollably crept onto his face at the thought of the simpler times he'd had whilst working as part of Jack's team. Secretly a part of him longed for their return, but the correction of his timeline rendered them far and forever from his grasp. _Maybe not quite forever._

"Right, on to that search you wanted." Gwen's compliant voice snapped him from his thoughts. The sound of a keyboard being vigorously used travelled down the phone line. "So, have you given any more thought to Jack's suggestion?"

"What'd you take me for? Of course I have."

"And?"

"Plans _are_ currently in motion." Seto casually spoke as he leaned forward to continue his task of rebooting his brother's system. This had been the true reason for detaching himself from his precious Duel Academy. Kaiba Corp would always remain his priority, anything else was a bonus.

Knowing that it would still be possible for him to manage another business on the side and after everything the captain had done for him Seto wasn't going to let him down when asked to stand by his friend's side in fighting to keep the world safe from harm. Soon he would be in command of Torchwood Five monitoring the Domino rift. All he was waiting on now was a response from UNIT to help dispose of the broken machinery stored in the secret basement that the Doctor had spoken of.

"That's great, he'll be so thrilled to hear … Oh my god!"

"What?" Seto asked at hearing the abrupt exclamation and cease of typing from his friend. Had she found some kind of scandal involving Schroeder?

"You should see this!"

_I knew it!_ Seto's mind sneered as he concluded that the Welshwoman had indeed discovered the slander he'd hopped to find. He stopped typing and made himself more comfortable to relish in the revelation. "Let's hear it, what have you found on this guy?"

"Grimm and Anderson."

"And who, pray tell, are they?" He asked intriguingly.

"Not who but what. Honestly Cariad, your brother owns KaibaLand and you don't know what Grimm and Anderson is?"

"Then go ahead and enlighten me!"

Gwen failed to hide her amusement as a haughty snort travelled down the line from hearing his irritation. "It's only the biggest theme park in Europe; Built four years ago and situated outside of Verviers, Belgium. Everything there is based around the famous works of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson. I told Rhys we should have gone there but _noooo_, he wanted to go to EuroDisney instead … Oh, look at that!"

"I obviously can't since I'm on the other end of a phone!"

"Cinderella's Pumpkin Carriage Carousel! … Oh, and The Snow Queen's Toboggan Ice Tunnel! … Oh, that Gingerbread House is gorgeous! … Oh, Seto! If only you could … Oh! … Oh!..."

"When you've quite finished your orgasm, I'd like to get back to the task at hand." Seto growled; his patience wearing thin. There was no way that the younger Schroeder could possibly have such a magnificent place to contend with his brother's. How was it that the two of them were business _partners_ when clearly they should be _rivals_? "Is there anything else I should know about him?"

"He used to be a duelist..."

"I _know_ that! His company's track record, what's that like?"

"Sorry Cariad, but if you're hoping for some dirt on this guy then I'm afraid you're out of luck. He's as clean as a whistle in Ianto's pocket."

Seto felt something sink down inside him. Had his instincts been wrong? "Try searching his brother, Siegfried Von Schroeder."

There was the sound of tapping once more coming from the other end of the line. "Right, now let's see what this guy … Oh!"

"Not again!" Seto's head despairingly sank into his hand at hearing yet another excited gasp from Gwen.

"Oh? … Wow, that … sucks."

"What?" His interest was starting to regain at the disappointment now in her voice. "What sucks?"

"Well this guy's had a string of failed business ventures. Looks like you beat him to the punch on some of them. He's currently focused on trying to build up some animation studio,- I sense you're not going to beat him on that since I know how you hate cartoons and such,- and he's kinda doing okay at the moment after having success with that film featuring those yellow things that are everywhere at the moment."

"Anything else?"

More typing as Gwen searched for the dirt her friend desired and began to read out what she had uncovered. "I've found an article about how he once tried to … but I guess you already know about that since it was your tournament he sabotaged … and your company too? … What a dick!"

"Tell me about it."

"No wonder you wanted me to do a check up on them if that's the kind of people they are."

"I wasn't much better myself at one point." Seto admitted to the once dark era of his youth.

"But you changed right?"

"Right." He agreed thoughtfully. _If I can do it then surely they're capable to? _"Thank you Gwen, you've been a real help."

"Anytime Cariad."

The call was ended and for a moment Seto sat with the phone held up and resting on his chin as he thought some more. _My instinct seems to be clearly off this time around. Am I just hanging on to some pointless feud that should remain buried well in the past? Perhaps Mokuba was right all along in seeing the good in other people?_

He looked at the clock. It was late afternoon and he decided that he didn't have anymore time to waste on the Schroeders, - ever, - as he now proceeded to continue to work on the KaibaLand mainframe once more.

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Once Mokuba had arrived at the hospital he was requested to change into a set of scrubs before being lead through to the operating theatre where his wife was waiting. The clothes hung neatly on his body but the cap on his head bulged with the mass of hair he had to accommodate underneath it.

"Sorry I'm late." He planted a kiss on Rebecca's forehead as he finally reached her side in the sterile room.

"You're not late ...Yet." She told him with a playful smile but feed up of the time she'd spend stuck on the hospital trolley where she lay propped up with an epidural in her spine and legs wide open as a midwife examined her internally.

"Okay Mrs Kaiba, you're almost fully dilated, so soon I'm going to need you to prepare to push."

"Push?!" Mokuba spoke horrified to the midwife freeing her hands of the gloves she had just used. "But I thought you were performing a C-section?"

"No need to fear Mr Kaiba." She assured him. "It's just the standard procedure for twins to birth the first one naturally if possible and then we'll assess what route to take from there on."

"Oh." He replied in response as the midwife moved away to consult with the other midwife and doctor within the room.

Rebecca reached out to grab her husband's hand as he looked pale and shaken by what he had just been told. "It'll be okay."

"I did this to you." There was a terrified and remorseful tone to Mokuba's voice as he spoke with teary eyes. "Aren't you scared?"

"A little." She allowed herself to admit but kept up a brave face to hide her own fears of childbirth to help ease his. No matter how much he'd insisted he was okay in leading up to this moment she knew that the tragic death of his mother during his birth was the thing plaguing his mind. The grip on his hand tightened as she assured him, "You're not going to lose me."

A sad waver of a smile flicked across his lips as he tried his best to stay strong. "I should be the one comforting you."

"You're here, that's all the comfort I need."

The smile began to disappear from Rebecca's face as she winced and fought back the numbing pressure of the contraction, grateful that the epidural was working to keep the pain at bay.

"I think it's time for you to start pushing." Both midwives approached. Together they continuously encouraged her as the baby slowly and gradually made his way down the birth canal.

"You can do it Becky; almost there now." Mokuba cheered his wife on as he continued to hold her hand as well as repeatedly swab the sweat from her forehead.

"I can't!" Rebecca panted with exhaustion and defeat from the gruelling task she was undertaking.

"Yes you can." The doctor assured her as he too had also joined them during the time taken to get this far. "Just take a short rest and retry once the pressure begins again."

"How's the baby?" Mokuba asked as casually as he could muster whilst swabbing moisture from his wife's tired face.

"The baby's doing fine." The midwife confirmed and beckoned him to her. "Come and see."

"Go on." Rebecca encouraged him. Maybe if he saw what was happening down below for himself it would help ease his fears and doubts over the situation. "I'll be fine."

Nervously, Mokuba made his way towards the end of the hospital trolley. His eyes timidly directing themselves to view between his wife's legs where he saw their son's head crowning out from her vagina. A genuine smile flashed on his face like lightning as he spoke to the woman he loved. "You really _are_ almost there!"

The joyful look on her husband's face provided her with the additional strength she needed to continue and when the next urge to push came along Rebecca gave it her all. Soon she was rewarded with the sound of her baby's first cry.

"You did it Becky!" Mokuba praised her with a shower of affectionate kisses. "Well done, you did it."

Exhausted once more Rebecca flopped into the arms of her husband. Childbirth was a lot tougher than it looked. Comparing it in terms of difficulty to that of the quantum mechanics masters degree she'd given up to embark on her life as a Kaiba she instantly knew which she personally had found easiest. But Mokuba was the path she had chosen for her life and future; she wouldn't have changed _anything_. Not one single thing. The sacrifice she had made, pain that had just been endured and was still to come, was more than worth it to be with the man she loved.

One of the midwives now carried their baby to them whilst the other remained where she was at the foot of the trolley. "Here's your first beautiful boy."

Beautiful. It wasn't the word Mokuba would have used to describe his child, but it would do as he knew there was no other word available in existence that could possibly capture the admirable bundle of perfection that the two of them had created. Only a name could do that. "Hello Arthur." He cooed gently taking his son from the midwife. "Come and say hello to your mom."

Arthur was gently guided across and down to Rebecca's side as she lay silently sobbing tears of joy but was then suddenly taken away as both midwives and the doctor began to rush around in a state of urgency.

"What's wrong?" Mokuba asked terrified as he watched his son whisked away and placed into a transparent crib on one side of the room and his wife speedily taken to the other. Two more medical staff also entered the sterile room.

"Baby number two is now showing signs of distress and we need to act quickly." One of the midwives explained. "Please Mr Kaiba, we need you to stay calm and out of the way whilst we operate."

Staying out of the way wasn't a problem as Mokuba found himself rooted to the spot in fear. As for staying calm, that was a whole other story. _No! Please don't let anything happen to them. Please don't._ He was aware that he was now physically shaking, scared at the possibility that history was about to repeat itself. 'Sooner or later it always does and is completely unavoidable in some cases,' - the timelord had once told him.

"Mokie!" Rebecca cried out as she had no choice but to helplessly lay there with a screen now constructed across her stomach to conceal the Cesarean section from her view.

With a torn heart he watched his scared wife cry on one side of the screen and could clearly see the doctor operating on the other side, scalpel in hand as he effortless sliced down Rebecca's abdomen. _You can't crumble at a time like this! She needs you to be there! She needs you to stop wallowing in the past!_

The scrubs of the doctor and his team were now covered in amniotic fluid and blood as they worked swiftly to pull the baby free from the exposed uterus. "Okay we're clear." One of them stated as they handed the tiny newborn to the midwife and began to remove the placenta so that they could then close up the wounds they had made.

"What's wrong with my baby?" Rebecca asked fearfully as she watched the two midwives hurry away with him.

It was only then that Mokuba too realised something was wrong as his second born had not yet made a sound. _No, no, no, no! _He looked at the midwives and then back at his terrified wife. Defiantly he moved from where he stood and raced to be by her side. "Shhh." He tried to calm and ease her as he cupped his hands around her face and forced her to make eye contact with him. "Everything's okay; it's just standard procedure that look's scarier than it actually is."

Rebecca tried to shake her saddened face but it was still held tightly in her husband's hands. She knew he was trying his best, mostly for himself, but the false reassurance wasn't comforting at all. "We've lost him." Tears began to roll down her checks as she forced them both to accept what she knew to be the truth now rather than later.

His mouth twitched as Mokuba tried to remain optimistic. "But I've still got you." He told her with a lump in his throat and a lone tear escaped from one of his eyes as he fought the rest back. "And we've got Arthur."

More tears now flowed down on both their faces as together they began to mourn their loss. But the tears soon stopped as a high pitched shrill suddenly broke through the air. Together they turned their heads and saw their second born now being brought towards them.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to scare you both." The midwife apologised as she held the wailing newborn. "This little guy was becoming a bit oxygen starved but he seems to be doing much better now." She handed him over to the shaking arms of his mother.

"Noah!" Rebecca gasped in relief as she cradled him tenderly. More tears began to fall, this time full of joy. She turned to her husband. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

Mokuba forced a wavering smile onto his tear stained face and kissed his wife's forehead lovingly as he pulled them both closer to him. He hadn't believed himself either and for a moment wondered if a higher power had heard and answered his prayer for their wellbeing.

"I hate to break up this happy little family but we're going to need to start moving you all onto the postnatal ward." The midwife began to explain the next plan of action. "Mrs Kaiba, we'll help you to get cleaned up and wheel you along once you're done. Mr Kaiba, you are most welcome to accompany your wife or if you'd prefer, your sons during their first check up; the choice is yours."

"Don't worry about me." Rebecca told him with a smile so that he didn't have to make the difficult decision himself. "Stay with the boys, you've been waiting long and patiently to met them."

"Thank you." He leaned over to kiss her goodbye before carefully taking Noah from her.

"I'll see the three of you again soon once I'm looking beautiful again."

"You always look beautiful to me Becky." Mokuba sincerely told her before he was ushered away and back towards the crib were Arthur lay.

Mokuba carefully placed Noah down in the crib beside his twin. He watched fondly as the new arrival continued to cry and stretch out his shaky limbs only to disturb the peaceful Arthur whom had drifted off to sleep. Both gave a startled cry at the contact that had been made and then upon the next brushing of their tiny hands they fell silent with contentment of being reunited together again.

A hugh smile proudly grew on his face at the sight of his peaceful sons as the realization of having become a father finally hit home. It was an alarming thought for many men, but after being raised by the finest man he knew, - and would most likely ever know, - Mokuba was confident that he had learnt what he needed for him to be able to care for and unconditionally love them both.

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**Thanks for reading :)**

**KG**

**The next chapter will see the birth of Seto and Kisara's first born.**


	2. Tokophobia

**This chapter is based shortly after 'Children of Earth: Seto's story'**

**Enjoy!^^**

**Chapter Two**

"Oh _fuck_, that hurts!" Kisara hissed during the wave of contractions she was currently experiencing. She sat on the hospital bed in the tie around garment which she had been ordered to wear by the midwife upon her arrival and examination, then was strapped up to a machine used for monitoring hers and the baby's blood pressure. That was two hours ago. "Okay, it's passed."

In the chair by her bedside, Jack Harkness sat consulting the stopwatch in his hands as he timed the length and duration between contractions. "Yep, they're definitely getting closer together and lasting longer." He made a mental note of the reading before he cleared it to start the next and sent the hands ticking once more.

"Do I need to mention the fact that they're getting more painful?" She tried to laugh but her anxiety made it sound more like a sob, as the two of them waited in the delivery room.

"Your use of the F-word did kinda give it away." The captain smirked. Over the few years he'd known his friend's wife, he'd never heard any kind of crude language leave her mouth. The smile dissolved from his face as he watched her try to hide the worries that plagued her mind. Reaching out with his free hand, he held hers and gave a comforting squeeze. "You're doing great."

Kisara's hand tightened in the hold as she looked at the man next to her with wide teary eyes. "I'm scared Jack. What if something goes wrong?"

"We're in a hospital; you couldn't be in a better place if complications arose…"

"I'm not talking about the birth!" Her voice had risen in an irritated tone. "What if Seto doesn't…"

"He'll be here." Jack spoke his words assertively as he cut across the thought of her husband missing the joyous occasion since they had had no luck in contacting him so far. "Save your worrying and just concentrate on bringing that little one into the world 'cause believe me; it's going to hurt like hell."

"Like you'd actually know what it's like." The remark was sneered almost insidiously.

"Being pregnant once was _more than_ enough for me. There's no way I'm ever gonna be stupid enough to agree to do _that_ again."

She looked at him with a perplexed glare. "I can never tell whether to take you seriously or not."

A mischievous grin flashed those perfect white teeth. "Take me anyway you like, I never complain, but I don't think Seto or Ianto would agree to let us …. Oww!" Kisara squeezed tightly onto his hand, her nails started to dig into the captain's skin. "I take it they've started again?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?!" She hissed through clenched teeth and tried to remember the things she'd been taught in her antenatal classes which had all but abandoned her by now.

"You know, if you weren't wired up to this machine we could have you up and walking around to ease the pain…"

"What makes you think that I'll be able to stand, let alone walk?!" Her nails sunk deeper into the captain's hand and she heard more sounds of discomfort leave his lips in sharp gasps and hisses.

Kisara released her hold as the contraction came to an end and Jack was quick to reclaim his hand and pretended that he needed both to be able to restart the stopwatch. "Make them stop!" She begged him taking several deep drawn out breaths to calm herself.

"I can't, but I'll get you help from someone who can." He assured her as he rose from his seat beside the bed and placed the stopwatch back inside one of his greatcoat's many pockets.

"No." She shook her head frantically. "Don't leave me."

The captain's eyes locked with hers and he saw the fear reflected which had been built up towards the woman's first child birth. "It'll just be for a few minutes, I'll find a midwife and send her through." There was nothing more that he would have liked to have done other than flee back to the hub underneath Cardiff bay, but he also didn't want to leave the scared mother-to-be on her own either, and would stay for as long as he could. "I'll give Seto another call too, okay?"

"Okay." Kisara whimpered as she bit down on her lip.

Jack swiftly left the room and soon found one of the midwives in the corridor as she consulted someone else's files. "Excuse me?!" He called only to be ignored.

Racing over to her, he tried again as he placed a hand on her arm to make his presence known. It worked as the woman looked up at him from the paperwork. "Hi, I was wondering if you'd mind checking over Kisara? She's in labour and is due to have her baby…"

"Are you trying to be funny sir, or just extremely dim-witted?" Why else would the woman in question be in the delivery wing of a maternity hospital?

"I'll let you decide. Anyhow, nobody has been back to check on her progress for over two hours now and she's experiencing some serious pain issues..."

"She _is_ having a baby sir, there's a whole lot of pain involved in the process. You men are lucky that you'll never have to go through giving birth yourselves…"

"Ya see, you're stood here _talking_ to me about her pain when you should be in there _helping_ to ease it for her!" He failed to keep his voice calm as his temper rose from the irritation the midwife caused him.

"Which room sir?" She didn't seem the slightest bit interested.

"Room six."

"Okay, I'll have someone see to her right away." The woman assured in a tone that told him she didn't liked to be told how to do her job, before she started walking away from him.

"Thank you." Jack gave a forced smile. That was one thing sorted; now he just had the phone call to make. He rushed to exit the building so that he'd be able to use the device which was not permitted to be in use inside the hospital.

Flipping the cell phone open he wasted no time speed dialling his friend's number. He gave a frustrated sigh as he was placed through to the answer machine yet again. "Where the _fuck_ are you Seto?!"

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The CEO of Kaiba Corp was stood in the foyer of his company's building as he bid farewell to one of his recently acquired business associates. After only just coming out of the meeting were he had signed a contract with the American firm, he now watched the man with a dark receding hairline and moustache leave his property. "I _really_ despise that man!" He growled under his breath.

There was a giggle from Rebecca who was stood beside him as she also watched the head of Geocomtex depart. Together with her brother-in-law, they both entered back into the elevator. "Just think of it this way Seto; we're one step closer to nailing that guy and once that's done you'll be able to tear up the contract."

"I have a feeling it's going to take some time to accomplish though." He flipped open the secret panel compartment on the controls and scanned his fingerprints to send them on their way down to the secret room below basement level. "Gaining Van Statten's trust seems to be a lot harder than I had anticipated."

"At least you'll have a nice little product and profit as a result of your undercover work, so it's not all bad." She tried to stifle her laughter at the questioning look on the CEO's face.

There was no denying that the joint effort over the Strand-390 player would be a sophisticated piece of technology and profitable outcome for his company, but Seto wasn't at all pleased with several of the decisions that had been made. Decisions which he had only allowed in an attempt to acquire the other man's trust by making him think that he was in control of the situation at hand, when in fact Torchwood was investigating him and the alien artefacts that were in his alleged possession, which was why he'd allowed Kaiba Corp to be connected with Geocomtex in the first place, as he sought to find out the answer.

"Pink?" Seto asked sceptically. The choice of colours that had been arranged for the product's launch release was one of the qualms that he had. Many companies had opted to appeal to their female consumers in this way, but not Kaiba Corp. He felt it patronising to everyone involved, namely his and his company's well established profile which now span world-wide after recently becoming a huge success in Europe. "Would you buy from, and/or think highly of, a company pushing such a stereotypical gimmick?"

"Personally… no, on both accounts." Rebecca was serious with her reply.

"I hope Jack appreciates the sacrifices I'm making with my company's reputation. His hunch about this guy had better be right!"

_PING! _The elevator doors opened to allow them access to the gigantic underground room where a huge cybernetic conversion unit had once been, but now that it had been completely removed and destroyed, the vast area had become the hub for Torchwood Five.

"I'll get to work on this right away." Rebecca stated as she approached her workstation and then removed her glasses to flip open a tiny port situated on one of the framework's arms. Next she took a thin cable that was connected to her computer's mainframe and hooked the two together for the information, - recorded via a tiny camera encased in the lenses of her spectacles, - to be relayed and the data displayed onscreen. Placing her glasses back on her face, she then began to edit out the footage which was relevant for adding to their case file on Henry Van Statten.

The meeting which had just ended would be re-examined to see what clues may have been overlooked to closing in on the man's hidden secret. Seto was glad that this was not a task he would have to undertake himself as sitting through the almost three hours long discussion once was more than enough for him. He pulled out his cell phone and checked the messages left on his answering machine, - via the loudspeaker option, - and Jack's cheery voice blasted out at him…

"… _Hey Seto! I'm calling to let you know that Kisara's gone into labour. Naoko is on her way around to take care of Anathema and then the two of us are going to head off for the hospital. See you there..."_ _Beep_

"That's great news!" Rebecca stated as she witnessed the stunned look on her brother-in-law's face.

"… _Me again. Just letting you know that we've arrived at the hospital, the midwives have checked Kisara over and she and the baby are doing fine. See you soon..." Beep._

A proud smile crept on to Seto's face. "I'm about to become a father!" They'd already adopted Anathema, but this was different, this was _his_ biological baby.

"… _Is that guy still talking? Geez, he's a windbag! We've been here almost an hour now, how much longer are you going to be?" _There was a pause and several deep and rapid breaths could be heard down the line before Jack continued. _"That's the last time I listen to Ianto. 'Everything will be fine,' he says, 'just hop over to drop off the cards and presents, and then come back again, she won't go into labour'. 'HA!', is what I say! Hopefully we'll see you soon…" Beep._

"Was he hyperventilating?" Rebecca asked after hearing the slightly panicky message from the captain.

"… _Where the fuck are you Seto?!"_ The question was impatiently snapped down the line and more heavy breathing could be heard as the caller then attempted to calm himself. _"Kisara's coping well, but just watching her… makes me… god, I can't take it… secondary tokophobia's a bitch! PLEASE hurry it up…" Beep. _

"Tokophobia? Isn't that the fear of childbirth?" Seto nodded in reply to his sister-in-law's questioning. "But why would Jack be suffering from it, it's a condition that only affects women? And to have the secondary variety? That would imply that he's given birth himself; it makes no sense?! "

"Long story," The CEO sighed as he placed the cell phone back into his pocket. "I have to get to the hospital, but I can't just leave…"

"Yes you can." Rebecca stated firmly with a smile. "I can hold both forts on my own for a while. If I need more help, I'll call Ryou into work early." She shoved her workaholic brother-in-law towards the elevator before he had chance to argue his protest. "Now go! You don't want to miss the birth."

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Before re-entering the delivery room, the captain took a deep breath as he pushed back all of his anxiety so as not to cause more panic to his friend's wife. Her situation was stressful enough and she didn't need him making it anymore so. "How you doing? Any better since the midwife popped in?"

"No one has been in since you left." Kisara told him with her scared eyes close to overflowing. She winced at the start of another contraction.

Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing, especially since the midwife he'd spoken to had assured him somebody would be sent through and now realised that he'd merely been fobbed off. "Why that Raxacoricofallapatorian!" He grumbled his frustration by referring the woman to one of the vilest creatures that he could think of, and turned to leave the room again.

"Don't go!" The plea was too late as she watched her husband's friend storm out of the room and an angry muffled conversation in the corridor on the other side shortly followed. She groaned at the tremendous pain in her abdomen, face wrinkled up and several hot tears streamed from her eyes.

The door opened again and the midwife Jack had spoken to a little while earlier was steered into the room. "Just check her over." He ordered.

In an apathetic manner she approached the monitoring machine, tore off the printout after a quick glance and removed all of the connections from the pregnant woman. "You don't need this anymore, dear. Both you and the baby are fine so I'll just take this away and check back with you in an hour or so…"

"Oh no you don't." The captain shook his head disapprovingly as he refused to let the midwife leave the room. "You haven't even spoken with her about how's she's coping, or seen how far along she is, or …"

"Are you telling me how to do my job?!"

"Yes, I am; _you_ don't seem to be doing it properly!" He stood off against the shorter ageing woman, his temper frayed from the lack of attention that Kisara had received.

"I've had almost thirty years of experience in this line of work, I see this kind of thing day in day out …" She pointed back across to where the pregnant woman lay gasping in pain. "… and your wife there…"

"She's not _my_ wife, she's my _friend's_ wife." That sounded a lot better in his head than when it had been spoken aloud, giving the impression that he was the baby's father by being the one present with the expecting mother.

"…she's not yet ready to have the baby!"

"How do you know? You haven't _even _checked!"

"Jack!" Kisara's cry made him rush to her side as she struggled to cope with the discomfort from the contraction.

"It's okay Kisara, just breathe deep. In. Out. In. Out." He performed the actions he had told her to do, not only to encourage her to do the same, but also to help him calm himself. A sharp gasp suddenly left his mouth as he'd mindlessly taken hold of her hand again and her nails re-sank into his flesh. "And ease off the hand a little too."

The midwife slowly began to sympathise with the frustrated feelings of the man offering support to the scared woman. "I realise that this is a stressful and hard time for both of you to deal with…"

"You have no idea of just how hard!" Jack laughed as he tried to disguise all aspects of his own distress and aches.

"The labour process takes time, - especially when it comes to a first full term pregnancy, - so she could still be like this for hours to come before she's dilated enough to even attempt the delivery of the baby." She watched the silvery haired woman become more settled from the aid supplied by the captain at her side.

Using his free hand to brush back some of the long strands of silvery hair that clung to Kisara's hot sticky face, he asked the midwife, "What about getting her some pain relief? An epidural perhaps?"

"She needs to progress further before we can administer the …"

"Well, gas and air then?!" Jack had raised his voice again. "Anything to help ease her suffering!"

"I'll be back in a few minutes." The midwife left the room to go and fetch the requested nitrous oxide.

"She said I could be like this for hours Jack!" Kisara whimpered fearfully.

"If you look on the bright side, then at least Seto will be here by then." He joked and got a faint smile in return. More than anything, he wanted to run and hide. Loyalty to his friend and the pregnant woman was the only thing still keeping him the room right now.

"Did you get through to him?"

The captain hesitated for a moment. He didn't want to cause her any unnecessary worry so smiled as he lied, "Yes, he's on his way."

A moment later the ageing midwife returned with a gas canister. "Here you go dear, place the mouth piece all the way in and inhale deeply when you feel the pain strike again." She explained to Kisara how to use the pain relief before turning to speak with Jack. "We've got some more women, - who are nearing the final stages of labour, - arriving shortly and we need to free up delivery rooms to accommodate them. I'd like you to see that _'your friend's wife'_ is ready for moving onto one of the pre-natal wards within the next ten minutes."

"Will do." He nodded his agreement before massaging his aching,- but now free again,- hand and watched her leave once more before turning to the pregnant woman. "If you feel like sharing, I wouldn't mind some of that."

"Mine!" She teased before taking a deep breath, the nitrous oxide causing the back of her throat to dry out. After just a couple of inhalations the warm easing effect took over and the pain became more bearable. The tube was removed from her mouth so that she could talk again. "How long do you think it will be before Seto gets here?"

"I honestly have no idea." Jack admitted with a sigh.

Kisara took another lungful of the numbing gas and felt the contents of her stomach swirl. As swiftly and calmly as she could, the mouth piece was removed once more and with great effort she swung her legs over the side of the hospital bed. She felt the captain, - whose words of concern where nothing more than a blurb of unrecognisable sounds to her ears, - steadied and helped support her as she tried to make her way towards the bathroom. There was another more violent churn in her stomach and without warning she vomited all over the greatcoated man.

"Eww, that's not a nice look or smell." He jested in a slightly horrified and repulsed manner whilst still trying to assist the silvery haired woman who was now doubled over and crying from the excruciating pain she was in.

"I want Seto here!" She sobbed.

"Me too." Jack agreed. He wanted to crumble along with her as his feeling of anxiety built up inside him over the lack of control he had to be able to better the situations they were both in. "Me too."

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The Mercedes' horn blurted loudly and repeatedly as Seto jabbed it with frustration of being stuck in the city's traffic. He'd been stationary for close to ten minutes now and before that hadn't been travelling at anything faster than a snail's pace through the gridlock that had been caused by some human rights activists holding a protest nearby to try and bring some kind of further equality to all of mankind. _Why the hell didn't I just use the hopper?_

Jack's number was dialled on the CEO's cell phone as he only just thought to ring ahead and let them both know he was on his way, as well as the reason for his hold up. But there was no answer other than the message informing him that the caller's hand set was switched off, which he foolishly should have known it would be in order to comply with hospital guidelines. Impatiently he tossed the cell phone onto the passenger's seat next to him, and began to drum his fingers on the steering wheel.

_One-two-three-four, one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four…._

"Finally!" Seto exclaimed as the car in front crawled forward but then came to a rest again shortly afterwards. "I'd have better luck walking!" He grumbled out loud. _In fact, that's not a bad idea!_

He turned off the engine, pocketed his cell phone and keys, then stepped out of his car and slammed the door a little harder than he had intended. He then proceeded with his mission as he weaved between the vehicles to reach the sidewalk where one of the police officers overlooking the protest nearby called out to him. "Oi, you can't leave that there!"

"Just watch me."

"It'll be impounded and crushed if you continue on your way."

Seto glanced back to look at the shiny silver Mercedes one last time and sighed. God, he loved that car. But he loved his wife and their unborn child even more, which was why his pace quickened into a jog, and then into a run, as he set off in the direction of the hospital.

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Kisara had been moved down onto the pre-natal ward where she found herself placed amongst a room full of women whom were there to be treated for one form or another of complications relating to their own pregnancies. Despite the captain asking numerous times, not once had she been checked over to assess how far along she was with the birth or offered anymore forms of pain relief. As a last resort he had suggested to her that a warm soak might help to sooth the contraction pains, and so there they were in the bathroom filling the tub with water.

"There, that should do it." Jack stated after testing the temperature of the water with his arm and stopped the flow gushing from the taps. "I'll be right outside if you need me."

"But you can't leave!" Kisara exclaimed in horror.

"I have to."

"Why?"

The captain raised a puzzled looking brow in response to her question. "Shortly you're going to be getting into that tub, so the gown will be coming off and … well … you'll be … exposed."

"Have you never been around a naked woman before?" She asked in a surprised yet jeering tone.

"Oh, I've been around plenty in my time." He laughed. "But I can't stay with you now." It was becoming to much for him to handle being around her but still he continued to mask it as best as he could with using whatever situation at hand that he was able to grasp. "There's already assumptions buzzing around this place regarding the two of us and the lack of that husband of yours. All it takes is for some nosy journalist to blow the whole thing out of proportion and yours and Seto's public image would be at stake; so let's not provide them with incriminating material by me staying in here whilst you bathe."

"I'm having his baby!" Kisara stated forcefully as she tried to push back another wave of contractions. "And I know for a fact that Seto wouldn't care about whatever gossip was circulating in relation to us in his absence, as long as I had someone both he and I _trust_ to help me get through this with as much dignity as possible." Her voice was now less intimidating as she began to whimper in pain once more. "I need you to help me through this Jack."

His face twisted as he fought back his own feelings of discomfort. After hearing her reason and beg for his help he couldn't very well turn away from her now. "Okay I'll stay. But once you're in the water, then I'm going to focus on cleaning my coat in the sink over there until you need me to help you out."

"Thank you." She smiled before kissing and awkwardly hugging him to express her gratitude. Her gown was then removed and with his help she managed to climb over the steep side of the bathtub and submerged herself in the warm bliss of the water that rippled around her inflated figure.

Picking up his greatcoat, Jack strolled his way over to the sink to clean the now dried vomit away. His back was to Kisara and it was amazing just how much calmer he felt. "How's the water?" He conversed with her whilst scrubbing away. "Too hot? Too cold?"

"Perfect." She sighed in response. "I should have done this hours ago."

"Something to remember for next time then." He smirked.

"Next time?" Came a scoff. "If the midwife is right and I've got far worse to come then there won't be a next time. From now on when Seto wants sex he can sort himself ….Oowwwt!"

"Take deep calming breaths now." Jack reminded her as he figured she was indeed fighting off more contractions, whilst he too fought a battle of his own to remove the image that was now placed inside his head as a result of her last comment.

"I'm trying but they're getting so much stronger." The urge to push was also becoming too great for her to resist but she managed somehow. "There it's passed."

The bathroom fell silent.

"Do you have any children Jack?" Kisara asked after thinking back over to the joke he'd made earlier about having been pregnant.

Her simple and purely innocent question struck him like a red hot blade to his heart as. "No." He lied with silent tears slowly falling for both his daughter and grandson, and the unspeakable act he had done almost four months ago.

"Do you think you'll have any with Ianto perhaps?"

"That'd be impossible for us; two men remember."

Kisara rolled her eyes at the captain's words, of course she knew that they wouldn't be able to conceive together. "I meant via a surrogate mother. Though why any woman would willingly put herself through this kind of torture …. Oooooowwww!" Hot tears raced down her face. "Damn it, _where_ is that husband of mine?!"

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"Excuse me ..." Seto panted as he finally reached the front desk of the hospital's labour ward. "My wife … was brought in here … earlier ..."

"Name please?"

"Kaiba." He stated still trying to catch his breath from all the running and stair ascending he'd done. "Kisara Kaiba."

"I remember her." The woman stated as she entered the information onto her keyboard. "First timer, wasn't anywhere near ready enough to give birth."

"Really? ... But she's been here several hours already? Where is she?!"

"We moved her downstairs to the pre-natal wards in order to make room for the _more_ _expectant _women."

"To which one?" Seto managed to ask calmly through gritted teeth; part of him annoyed at having needlessly just climbed the stairs and the rest of him eager to be with his wife.

"I don't know sir."

"But you sent her there!" He now growled in frustration.

"Yes we just send them, you'll have to ask downstairs which one they've assigned her to"

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The water had turned murky and cold, it's soothing benefits now gone, causing Kisara to finally accept it was time to get out. Carefully she pushed herself up and over the side of the tub to walk straight into the towel waiting for her as Jack stood there holding it with his gaze diverted.

Once wrapped up in it she began to dry herself down as best she could. More pain erupted within her. Looking down she saw droplets drip from both her body and hair to form a shallow puddle at her feet were faint swirls of coppery burnt orange and red churned with the water. Kisara pulled back the towel from around her legs to see that it too was covered in traces of blood, and with her hand she followed a trickling stream up to where she felt a patch of moist hair that she knew wasn't hers. "_Jack!_"

"What is it?" He asked in reply to the terrified cry of his name.

"The baby's here."

Foolishly the captain turned to face Kisara and saw the newborn crowning between her legs. _Holy fuck! _"Okay, stay calm!" He said as he guided her several steps to the right for her to take hold of the support rail to steady herself. "I'm going to get you some help, so stay right here."

Frantically she nodded still clutching the towel around her and made no attempt to stop her husband's friend from leaving as she watched him swiftly exit the room.

"Help!" Jack's voice sounded down the corridor as he searched for any member of staff he could find. "I need help here! My friend's wife is having a baby, like _right now_ having a baby!"

"Are you sure sir?" A midwife asked him as she speedily strode to his side with several more of her fellow colleagues following in her wake.

"Don't believe me then go and take a look for yourself." He gasped, beginning to hyperventilate and shake on the spot where he stood.

The midwife did just that and called out to the rest of the women behind her. "He's right. We're going to have to deliver this baby right here and now."

"But you can't!" Kisara protested, appalled at what she had heard. "Not _here,_ in a bathroom!"

"Trust me ma'am, the baby isn't going to stay in there much longer. It's fare safer to deliver it now then risk getting you to the labour ward."

This wasn't how Kisara had envisioned or planned things. It was supposed to be a momentous occasion, one she'd hope would run according to plan. After the disastrous luck they'd had with their engagement and wedding day, she'd hoped for better for the birth of their child. Maybe if she had heeded her husband's advice on the overly exclusive, - not to mention outrageously expensive, - maternity hospital he'd suggested, instead of assuring him that a regular one would suffice, then things might have been different? And where was Seto anyway? He should have been there by now.

"Easy does it now." Steadily the midwife eased Kisara away from the safety rail and lowered her down on to the now discarded towel lying on the floor. Over her shoulder the midwife called out to the woman's birthing partner, "Sir, can you come around and help support her from behind?"

No answer.

"Sir?" She looked round but saw no sign of the man so had to rely on one of her colleagues instead.

Outside in the corridor, Jack staggered further away from the bathroom still struggling to breathe as he fought against the palpitations threatening to break his chest. He hadn't wanted to leave his friend's wife on her own back there, but found it necessary to remove himself from the situation before all hell broke loose within him. _I'm sorry Kisara._

Now that his breathing was under control once more and feeling like a complete and utter failure for abandoning her at such a vital point, the captain saw no further need for his presence. He picked up his pace and began to navigate through the twisting halls to find the exit, passing by staff wearing various attires of blue and white, though one clearly stood out from the rest as the man caught his eye from afar. _Seto?_

"Seto!" The captain shouted and waved frantically to make sure that he caught his friend's attention. "Over here!"

"Jack!" The CEO exclaimed in relief and abandoned his search for the reception desk as he strode over to him at a quick pace. "Where's Kisara?"

"She's down here." He pointed the way he had come and retraced his steps as he began to lead Seto round to where he knew they'd find his wife. "Why the hell did you choose to wear a white suit today?"

"Do I tell _you _how to dress?"

"No." Jack shot back with almost as much irritation as he had received and tried to mask his discomfort of the returning palpitations as he barked, "Walk quicker or you're going to miss the birth!"

The two men then broke out into a run and arrived at the bathroom in next to no time at all. There they saw the naked expectant mother on the floor as she lay propped up by the midwife crouched down behind her.

"Seto!" Kisara's eyes sparkled with joy at the sight of her husband racing towards her. Her brows then narrowed on him. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Sorry Honey, the traffic was horrendous." He told her whilst changing places with the woman behind his wife. "I'm here now though." _Why the hell isn't she in a delivery room?!_

Seeing the young woman's face scrunch up once more as she prepared to endure the next bout of abdominal pain, the midwife at Kisara's feet instructed her to push. "Almost there."

"That's it Honey." Seto encouraged whilst he grimaced through the pain of his wife's fingernails digging into his hands as he held her. "You can do it."

Her efforts came to an end as Kisara let out a combined gasp and cry of having painfully felt the baby's head exit her body. Exhausted, she laid back on her husband and stared up at him. "Seto?"

"Yes?" He spoke tenderly and cleared a clump of hair that clung to her face only to reveal a questioning glare.

"A white suit? … On a day like today? … Seriously?"

"Are they not in fashion this season?" He joked back, now only too aware of the faux pas he'd made since he now found himself knelt on the tiled floor in a shallow puddle made up of water, amniotic fluid and blood.

"You _are doing _wonderfully." The midwife praised Kisara. "The head's out; airway's nice and clear. When you're ready, one final push should get those shoulders out and the rest of the body will easily follow."

A joyous laugh escaped from Kisara as she realised that the hardest part of the birth was over and wasn't set to be a million times worse like she had been fearing all thanks to the words of the ageing woman whom had 'attended' to her on the labour ward upstairs. Bearing down with the next urge she felt, her baby was then completely delivered and quickly placed onto the bare flesh of her stomach. "I did it!"

"Congratulations, it's a boy." The midwife smiled before then placing a small plastic clamp onto the umbilical cord and then focused her attention to the removal of the after birth.

"That's our baby Seto!" Kisara spoke in awe and wonder, excitedly glancing back at her husband whilst still in his hold. "That's _our _baby."

For a moment the CEO could do nothing but stare in amazement. Out of all the things he'd ever accomplished this was by far the most miraculous to him. Up until just a couple of years ago, - after having spent the majority of his life thinking that he'd been completely ruined by that evil stepfather of his,- he had never once considered himself to be able to live a life that consisted of anything other than his own arrogance, shame and solitary. _I win, you bastard! You may have altered my mentality but you failed to destroy me. _

"He's beautiful, just like his mother." Seto stated, his thoughts now withdrawn from the past and refocused on the here and now. He kissed his wife lovingly on the top of her head and reached out to touch the tiny hand of his son using just the tip of one finger. "Hello there little guy."

The newborn murmured a cry as though in response to his father's greeting which caused both parents to smile even more proudly.

"So you're the one who's been kicking me all this time." Kisara beamed and carefully raised her baby to her breasts, gently guiding him to latch on to her nipple and suckle.

Excitedly Seto looked across to the doorway in hope of seeing Jack's reaction to the new addition to his family. But there was no sign of him. Concerned for his friend's wellbeing he turned to the midwife he had replaced a short while ago. "Excuse me but could you take over for a moment?"

They exchanged places again and he gave his wife another kiss before leaving her side. "I'll be right back."

Having acknowledged the extreme anxiety his friend was sure to be feeling at being placed in the uncomfortable situation for him, Seto strode out into the corridor to offer condolence only to find the captain unconscious on the floor and surrounded by several midwives. "Is he okay?"

"He just fainted." One of the women informed him of what had happened. "He should be fine after a little bit of rest. Don't worry, we'll take care of him."

"I'm sure he'd like that." Seto smirked at the thought of Jack waking to be surrounded by so many women fussing over him. He knew it couldn't have been easy for his friend to have confronted his phobia but was extremely grateful that he had stuck it out and been there for Kisara during his absence. _Thank you Jack._

Carefully the midwives shared the unconscious man's weight between them and moved him off the a more comfortable place to recover whilst Seto returned to his wife and child. Yet more fatherhood lay before him, something he knew that he was more than capable and prepared to handle. And oh boy, what a dad he intended to be.

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**A/N:**

** If ever there was a self insertion in my fics then this would be it as Kisara's experience is practically identical to my own.**

**This fic will come to a halt for the time being as I plan to continue releasing the rest of the fics in this saga in their chronological order from now on. Chapter 3 will be added in due time.**

**KG**

**'''''**

**Seto: Please tell me you aren't seriously going to release that monstrosity you made up inspired by the new movie promo pic.**

**KG: Lucky for you I can't. It's not long enough, I'd have to flesh it out.**

**Jack: Do it!**

**Seto: No!**

**Jack: *pouts***

**12: Wrap it in a Christmas setting and release it as a side story.**

**Seto: NO!**

**12: Don't listen to him, go ahead and do it, just don't upstage me on the telly.**

**Seto: *sarcastically* Like that's a hard task to do.**

**12: *angrier than usual eyebrows***

**Jack: Don't fight you two, she's already penning more to add to that 'monstrosity' and it'll be up on …**

**KG: December 24th.**

**Seto: I hate you.**


	3. Tragedy

**Timescale: Set after 'A Red and Blue Eyed Paradox' - ****Seto aged 34**

**Chapter Three**

_I HATE hospitals. _Seto thought as he sat in the solitary confinement of the small family waiting room. The quieter they were, the more terrifying they became to him. Their silence only allowed and encouraged his subconscious mind to drown himself in a wave of thoughts that an otherwise occupied or distracted mind would have had the power to keep at bay.

Hunched forward with his elbows resting on his knees and a glazed blank stare present on his face, he continuously turned over the black cube that he held with both hands. The actions were meant as a way to try and focus his thoughts onto his current Torchwood investigation but still his mind wandered back to just over an hour earlier. _Please let her be okay!_

_#"I love you too Honey." Seto bid Kisara goodbye before placing the phone back down into the port on his desk in his Kaiba Corp office._

"_How is she?" Rebecca asked after catching the end of the conversation she had walked in on._

"_Busy from the sound of things, but assures me she's taking time to rest." He smiled sadly at the thought of his heavily pregnant wife looking after their two young children whilst still struggling to overcome the bout of anaemia she had developed earlier in her pregnancy. It couldn't have been easy on her own, especially since the annoying friend who was usually there to help was currently away on a work endowed trip. "Just a couple of more months and then she'll be even busier. And not long after that so will you."_

"_You too, don't forget." She shot back, reminding him that Torchwood would soon be a team member short once she started her maternity leave. "But I'll be back as soon as ..."_

"_No Becky, you take all the time that you need." He assured her that there was no rush in her returning to work once the birth was over with. "Enjoy your family; kids are only young once. The four of us can manage without you for a while."_

"_Are you sure Seto? Honestly?"_

"_Yes. I have full confidence in my team,- all of them,- and their abilities. Now what is it you wanted? You don't usually leave the basement to come all the way up here to my office." _

"_I was wondering if I could,- if it's possible,- leave a couple of hours early today? I don't want to seem like I'm taking even more advantage of your generosity, but these past couple of days I've begun to feel extremely nauseous in the afternoon and evenings..."_

"_Say no more, just go." He practically ordered her as the phone on his desk began to ring. "You're no use to me if you can't focus properly on your tasks." _

"_Thank you." She replied with a gracious smile before leaving him to answer the call.#_

Unable to cope with the solitary silence any longer Seto had left the private side room. The buzz and chatter from the other people seated waiting for news on their loved ones didn't distract him like he'd hoped. In fact it only seemed to make it worse as he became more nervous himself and now paced back and forth down the corridor leading from the main waiting area and towards the operating theatres.

"Sir, I'm afraid you're not permitted down here." A nurse attempted to communicate with him but was getting no response whatsoever. "Sir?"

His expression may have been vacant but the CEO was well aware of the goings on around him and had purposely chosen to ignore her as the black block in his hand continued to be handled as though it were a Rubik's cube he was trying to solve.

"Leave him, he doesn't seem to be posing any threat or obstruction." Another nurse advised the first and the two of them left to provide further assistance in the theatre they had been called to.

His eyes diverted from his cube in order to watch them leave and caught sight of yet more staff in scrubs who were stood around discussing the next plan of action in relation to their patient.

"...bleeding's quite extreme, we have to do something!"

"Terminate the baby."

"Before she lost consciousness she was adamant that we were to save the child above her own life."

"That _fetus _is just 23 weeks old, it _isn't _going to survive on its own and her life would be _wasted_ for nothing!"

"We can't go against the patient's wishes! Not without overriding consent from her next of kin."

"What about him?"

Seto's eyes burned and narrowed angrily at seeing a finger pointed his way as they all turned to look at him. _You won't get that consent from me! I made a promise and I damn well intend to keep it!_

"If we don't act now we could lose them both!"

_#"So you think they're hiding something from us?" The CEO asked as he held the phone next to his ear and studied the black cube in his other hand. _

"_Oh I know so." Jack answered on the other end of the line. "The way they're not willing to share what they do know and keep insisting that it's some ridiculous marketing campaign; they're concealing something."_

_It had been almost a week since the small black cubes had started to show up all over the world. Their origin and purpose remained a complete mystery, so naturally Torchwood had taken up the case as had UNIT. Neither group had claimed to have made any kind of progress or breakthrough in their observations that had concluded in nothing but a lack of results all round. Whatever these things were, they seemed indestructible and a complete enigma to behold._

"_Maybe, they just don't want to admit that they're as clueless as we are." Seto suggested as he gently tossed the block up in the air and caught it again._

"_Call it a hunch, but I sense that they are definitely keeping us in the dark over this. After the double-crossing stunt that they pulled on us by laying claims to Van Statten's haul, I wouldn't be surprised if ..."_

_There was a loud CRASH outside the building that caught the CEO's attention from the conversation at hand. He glanced down at the street below to see that two cars had collided and caused one of them to mount the pavement were it came to rest and had trapped a blonde haired woman beneath it's wheels. His eyes widened in horror. "Jack, I have to go! Carry on this investigation with Ryou."_

_The phone was carelessly dropped on his desk as he raced out of his office and towards the elevator where he slammed his fist hard on the button to summon it. "Come on!" He grumbled his frustration whilst waiting for the doors to open._

_Once they had begun to open Seto dived inside where two of his employees also stood. "Get out or hang on!" He told them as he entered his authorisation code into the control panel. Neither of his staff had moved from their spots but where swift to mimic him and grip the side rail as the doors to the metal box closed. _

_Rapidly the elevator plummet straight down the shaft as a result of the overriding command and came to a jolt upon arrival at the ground floor. The CEO made his exit before the doors even had the chance to finish opening, leaving his two rather nauseous employees behind to regain their equilibriums. _

_He sprinted across the foyer of his building towards the entrance where a gathering of curious employees had formed as they each craned they necks to try and get a better view of the incident outside."Get out of my way!"_

_The crowd obediently dispersed to leave their boss' path clear before reforming to gawk as they watched him weave between the traffic that had been brought to a standstill._

"_Becky!" Seto's concerned voice sounded out above the disorder as he pushed passed several people, one of whom he could clearly hear reporting the accident to the emergency services. His eyes now fell upon his sister-in-law trapped beneath the car's front wheels. "Becky, speak to me!"_

"_S-seto." She whimpered at hearing the sound of his voice before bursting out into tears. "I can't feel my legs!"_

"_Just hold on. I'm going to get you free." He assured her now kneeling down on the ground surveying the situation up close. It was hard to tell just how badly she'd been injured. One thing for sure was that the vehicle needed to be moved._

_More spectators gathered around as they came closer to see what all the commotion was about. Not a single one of them provided him with any kind of assistance as he tried and failed to push the wheel back off Rebecca's crushed legs. _

_Out of the corner of his eye Seto spotted a smartphone held up capturing the whole ordeal. A red mist descended upon him. "What the FUCK is wrong with you people?!" He roared angrily as he leapt at the youth, knocking the phone clean from his hand for it to fall and smash into pieces on the ground. _

_Murmurs and whispers began to circulate in response to the sudden outburst from the CEO who stood flexing his fingers back and forth into a half-fist trying to suppress his anger. It wouldn't do him any good to further lose his cool in the situation at hand. "Don't just stand there! Come and help me move this thing!" He commanded in an attempt to take control. "Please."_

_The driver of the vehicle that had mounted the curb and hit the blonde had been taken to one side by some of the first people on the scene in an attempt to help calm his shaken nerves and shocked state. He got up from where he sat on the hood of a nearby stationary car and approached to offer his help by placing his hands underneath the front bumper._

_With a nod of thanks, Seto positioned his hands inside the wheel arch. "On the count of three we lift; one, two, three!" They weren't strong enough by themselves to lift the heavy weight but as more people came forward to aid them the car slowly began to rise up and Rebecca was pulled free. _

_THUD! The wheels hit the pavement as the vehicle was let go of by those lifting it. Seto was swift to be back by his sister-in-law's side and removed his suit jacket to provide a makeshift pillow for her to rest on._

"_How bad is it?" She asked with red waterlogged eyes still unable to feel anything in her body's lower half._

"_I can't say." He answered truthfully not knowing just how badly she had been hurt. Thankfully there seemed to be no signs of heavy bleeding. "The ambulance is on it's way..."_

"_My baby!"_

"_Shhh." He tried to provide comfort for her panicking thoughts of the unborn child she was carrying as he took hold of her hand._

"_Make sure they help my baby!" Rebecca squeezed his hand tighter than anything he had ever felt before. She was more than aware that the paramedics would most likely overlook the under developed life inside her. "Promise me Seto. You have to intimidate them. Don't let them … I don't want to lose my baby..." A gush of tears drowned out her plea._

"_I promise you Becky; I'll do what I can." #_

_CRASH!_

The doors to the huge waiting area were swung open with such force from Mokuba's entrance that they smashed loudly against the walls. "SETO?!"

Hearing his brother's agitated voice that spread and travelled down the corridor snapped the CEO from his thought's. He headed back towards the open area placing the black cube down onto a table, were several more stood, along his way. "Mokuba!"

"Where's Becky?" The younger brother asked fearfully as he dashed over.

"They're operating on her as we speak." Seto informed him as he took hold of his brother's upper arm and steered him down the corridor he'd momentarily emerged from, in order to gain more privacy between them. "They're doing everything that they can, but you have to listen to me..."

"Mr Kaiba?"

"Yes?" Both of them answered as they turned in response to the female doctor's querying.

"The husband." She elaborated.

"That's me." Mokuba said stepping closer towards her.

"Come this way please." The doctor insisted and began to lead them towards the smaller side waiting room.

"Mokie, there's something that you need to know..." He intended to tell him about Rebecca's plea in an attempt to uphold and re-enforce the promise that he'd made to her, but after entering into the smaller room his brother's attention was then drawn back towards the doctor who wasted no time in revealing the information she had come to deliver.

"I'm afraid that your wife is in a severe, critical condition."

"Severe? Critical?" His voice was weak and frail as a newfound terror of losing his wife began to seep into his heart.

"We've done all that we can in order to stabilize her as best as we possible could given the hindering circumstances..."

"Circumstances?"

"Your wife's insistence that we focused on your unborn child, whom she too is also in a critical condition..."

"She?" Mokuba felt muzzy as he struggled to process the news he'd been told. He swayed slightly and was thankful that his brother had been there to catch and help steady him.

Ever the professional and remaining calm after having been interrupted twice, the doctor nodded before continuing with her news deliverance. "Your daughter's untimely arrival, during only the second trimester, means that she is extremely underdeveloped and is being cared for as best as we can in the neonatal unit. Your wife on the other hand remains in the operating theatre. She's haemorrhaging so badly from the reopened wound obtained during her previous Cesarean section that performing a full hysterectomy may be her _only_ chance of survival. For that we'd need your signed approval."

_I'm here for you Mokie. _Seto clasped his brother's shoulder tightly as he helplessly watched him drown in perturbation of being forced to agree to the removal of Rebecca's womb. His heart ached to see him placed into making such a drastic decision and a pang of guilt tugged hard at knowing that the situation could have been avoided had he not helped to reenforce his sister-in-law's wishes.

"Do it." Mokuba ordered sternly as he stared the doctor head on. He raised his hand and forcefully pointed towards the door. "You go in there and do _whatever_ needs to be done to save my wife. I'll sign _any_ paperwork you hand me."

"Yes sir." There was a nod of confirmation. "I'll have someone bring you all the required documents." She swiftly left the small waiting room to inform the surgeon of the actions that were to be immediately performed.

At hearing the door close, and with his brother now being the only other person in the room with him, Mokuba allowed himself to drop down on to one of the chairs. He pressed his face down into the palms of his hands and struggled to hold back the brewing sorrow, frustration and anger that was trying to escape him. _This has to be a nightmare, someone please wake me up!_

Seto frowned in sympathy and held back his own discomfort as he felt the need to uphold his sibling duty. He silently approached the row of chairs and calmly seated himself next to his brother. His arm raised and tenderly came to rest across the other man's shoulders. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Mokuba lied with his head still in his hands.

The two sat in silence for a while. Neither one of them was willing to confess to how much they were hurting inside but still took comfort in the other's presence beside them as that itself was enough.

Eventually the younger brother broke the stillness as he raised his head and wiped his sleeve across his enlarged red eyes. "What ever happened to common sense? If they had acted sooner then this could have been avoided."

"They were just following procedure." Seto stated as he tightened his arm's hold and drew his brother that little bit closer.

"Well procedure didn't to Becky any favours now did it?!" Mokuba snapped angrily as he threw the arm from off his shoulders. He felt his eyes and throat swelling once more. "She could still die in there. And as for our daughter, … - they carry out abortions further along than see is,- … maybe it would have been kinder to … to just let her go ..." Gushing sobs cancelled his words as he thought of their slim survival rates.

"So far they've both proven to be fighters; that's something that must have rubbed off from you."

"Oh please, we both know that I'm not the fighter of this family." He used his sleeve to wipe his eyes once again as he responded to the attempted words of comfort that had been spoken.

"Of course you are, and have been since day one." Seto gave a warm earnest smile. "You were born premature too and look at you now." He also wanted to make sure that there was no feeling of resentment towards Becky for the choice she had made so went on to elaborate, "If mother's wishes had been ignored then you wouldn't have been given that chance to prove them all wrong and be here today."

"You don't know that bro." Mokuba scoffed at his brother's attempt to try and keep his spirits high.

_Yes I do!_ He managed to keep the reply to himself despite the fact that he just wanted to scream it out loud. Sitting through their mother's last moments for a total of three times had been extremely painful, but not as much as the accidentally altered timeline were his brother had ceased to exist as a result of their father's interference during that 'second' time around. But of course he would never reveal anything about his rogue time travel mishap and so endured the metaphorical knives of his brothers words.

The door to the waiting room opened once more, interrupting the returning silence, and a nurse entered carrying a wad of papers. She approached the younger brother. "Mr Kaiba. Sir, I need you to sign these for me please."

He took the paperwork and pen handed to him and immediately started to scrawl his signature in all the required spaces.

"Aren't you going to read those through first before you sign them?"

"Tch." Mokuba rolled his eyes before delivering a disgusted glance at his brother whom he knew could be the only person capable of thinking about company policies during a situation like they were in right now. "They're for Becky's operation! I doubt that someone would have slipped anything in there that will swindle me out of my empire."

_It's not that I'm worried about._ _They could have slipped in a procedure that you may not fully agree with. _Seto kept the remark to himself as he backed down from the confrontation that would otherwise break out between them._ But you've already stated that they're to do 'whatever'_ _ in order to save Becky, so what use is my heeding going to do?_ He was clearly aware that once his brother was in an aggravated mood there was little chance of dissuading him. Ever. It was a trait he wished he'd never allowed him to mimic and blamed himself for having set such a poor example in the first place.

Now that they were all signed, the wad of papers was handed back to the nurse. "Thank you. If you'd like to come with me I can show you to your daughter." She began to move back towards the door only to see both men remain seated.

Frozen with the daunting thought of seeing his child struggling for survival caused the younger brother to blindly reach for the other's hand. "Come with me Seto."

"Of course I will." He assured with a brief firm grip in response to his brother's continuing roller coaster state of emotions.

They both rose from their seats and followed after the nurse.

There was silence between them as they walked down the halls, each brother lost in his own thoughts until Mokuba put voice to his wonderings. "Bro, how come you were one of the first on the scene?"

"The accident happened right beside Kaiba Corp. I merely went outside to see what all of the commotion was about."

"So you were there with Becky the whole time?"

"Pretty much. Once I realised she was trapped underneath the vehicle I wasted no time in freeing her. Shortly after that, I called you."

_But what was she doing there in the first place?_ The younger brother sank back into his thoughts as he eyed his brother suspiciously with a strong feeling that something was being kept from him. _The museum where she works is all the way across town, so why was she outside Kaiba Corp? Was she going to see Seto? Why?..._

"We're here." The nurse announced as they arrived outside a small private room on the neonatal intensive care unit. Blinds hung in the huge window beside the door were closed to provide privacy and prevent eyes from passers by peering in. "Before we enter, I have to ask that you don't touch any of the equipment in the room."

Both men nodded to confirm their understanding and agreement. They were then permitted to enter the room as the nurse held the door open for them, before she disappeared back down the hall to process her paperwork. Inside the room they saw an incubator surrounded by numerous pieces of technical monitoring equipment all being observed by the neonatologist in charge as he consulted the many displays. Within the incubator itself lay the small, fragile, dark salmony coloured baby who had multiple wires and tubes attached to her body.

"She's so tiny." Mokuba gasped tearfully as he looked at his daughter whom he estimated to be barely bigger than his hand.

Seto silently agreed as he stared both disturbingly yet wondrously at the life he'd helped to ensure was given the chance of survival that she would have otherwise been denied.

Turning his attention towards the neonatologist the younger brother questioned the purpose of the tubes and wires. "What are all those for?"

"She's unable to breathe on her own so needs the endotracheal tube inserted to connect her to the ventilator." He began the explanation with the scary looking pipe taped securely in place inside the helpless baby's mouth. "The drips are there to provide fluid, nutrition and oxygen supplementation. On her chest is a sensory patch to monitor cardiac function. And the electrodes on her head are for overseeing brain activity. I understand that it may look horrifying, but it's all necessary since her low gestation means that her organs are greatly under developed." As an afterthought he than added, "She unfortunately has some bleeding on the brain too."

"Is she is pain?"

"It's hard to know for certain and just how much. I can't imagine all those catheters being the comfiest of things either."

"What are her chances of survival?" Mokuba was now close to tears with each fact that had been revealed.

"In all honesty; not good." The neonatologist admitted truthfully. "Going by past experiences of babies born just as prematurely as her, I'd say she has around less than a 20% chance. And if by some miracle she _does_ manage to pull through, then there's a good 70% plus chance that she'll be severely disabled."

_You didn't have to be so straight forward!_ Seto glared disapprovingly at the white coated professional who obviously had no compassionate skills to accompany the delicate line of work he was in. _He's already worried sick without you adding to his troubles …_

"I'm sorry, I need to leave!"

The older brother was snapped from his thoughts as his weeping sibling rushed by him to exit the room. "Wait!" His concerned call didn't have any effect and without hesitation he was swiftly on his brother's trail.

Outside in the corridor the younger CEO continued to sob as he fought a losing battle of concealing his sorrow and grief. With a weakly clenched fist he struck out at the wall beside him before his body then slumped as though in defeat. _It's not fair! What did they or I ever do to deserve this? Oh please, let them both be okay..._

"Mokie?" Seto spoke softly as he cautiously approached his grief-stricken brother. "I know that at the moment things look bad, but given the circumstances ..."

"She wouldn't have wanted this!" Mokuba cut across his brother's words as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "If Becky had known our daughter would end up like..." He pointed sharply back towards the side room they had exited. "... like THAT, then she wouldn't have asked for her life to be saved."

"Do you honestly believe that?" His words had sounded harsher than he had intended but he needed to break though the hysteria beginning to consume his younger brother.

"Yes I do, because believe it or not, I actually know my wife better than _anyone_!"

"Then you know that Rebecca wouldn't have made such a decision so lightly and would have been well aware of what was entailed to see to your daughter's survival."

Mokuba's fist clenched and shook by his side. His brother was supposed to be providing him with words of comfort yet had spoken to him so sternly and bluntly. "Were you there Seto? When she asked them not to prioritise her?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn't you talk her out of it? Surely _you_ would also have known that this would be the outcome?" He stepped closer towards his big brother, staring him down in the process. "Why didn't you make Becky see sense and stop her from making such a drastic decision?"

"The undying love she has for that child would not have allowed anything to sway her." Nervously Seto wet his lips, aware that his brother was not going to like what he had to say next. "I even promised that I'd help to enforce it."

"What?! Why?"

"Loyalty. She's family, and you know where I stand when it comes to such matters." He could understand his brother's frustration with him. After all, at one point in time he'd have done anything possible to make sure that the Hawkins girl didn't ever get the chance to share the Kaiba name. The fact that he was concealing their involvement with Torchwood as well, didn't seem to be making things any easier either. _Perhaps I should tell him?_ … _You can't! That would only rise his temper … But I can't hide it from him forever. Surely sooner would be better than later?... _With his brother's cold narrowed glare wearing away at his conscience, he needed a distraction. "Let me get you a drink, it'll help you to calm down and clear your head."

"My head's fine." Mokuba seethed as he watched his brother walk away from him and towards the water cooler a little further down the hall. _How could you do this to me Seto? You should have gotten them to focus their efforts on Becky; even if it meant the baby's death. Who knows, we may even have had the chance to try for another? But not now! Your actions lead to the tarnish of the woman I love as well as force my daughter to suffer whilst I'm left helplessly watching by the wayside. Both of them I stand to lose … because of you! _His fist tightened. _Where was your loyalty to me?_

There was a black cube positioned on the paper-cup dispenser of the water cooler which Seto idly tossed down to one side on the floor. They were becoming so common place over that last few days that they could be found anywhere and everywhere, so much so that nobody seemed to care anymore. He pulled out a cup and filled it with water before returning to his brother. "Here, take a few mouthfuls of this."

"I don't want it." The younger brother spat with a venomous tone. "In fact, I don't want anything from, - or to do with, - _you_ _EVER_ again."

"You don't really mean that Mokie." Seto sighed deeply and offered the cup forward once more, well aware of the emotional mood swing causing his brother's heart to currently overrule his mind and ability to think straight. "That's just your irritation talking."

"Not this time." Mokuba knocked the cup from his brother's hand. "This time I mean it. I'm done with you Seto; you've hurt me for the last time."

"I know that you don't agree with the way things have played out." The older man spoke calmly and softly as he watched the cup's contents seep out across the floor. "But nothing was done today with the purpose of causing suffering to either of them. Or you. It wasn't intentional..."

"IT _NEVER IS_ WITH YOU!"

The raised and contused tone of his brother's voice made Seto look at him once more. The face now staring back he'd only ever seen one other time before when they had argued in his office over the engagement approval that had been sought,- and denied,- all those years ago. Only this time the look of the angry and frustrated narrowed brows over the sorrowful and hurt gaze was intensified to the extreme.

"Just like it was _never_ intentional for you to put me through all that torment and abuse as part of your twisted mind game to topple Gozaburo? What about all the times you _abandoned_ me, cast me aside and shut me out during our youth when I needed you most? Or the _continuous_ petty arguments that you made sure erupted in relation to my choice of friends, _especially_ when it came to Becky? In fact, I bet this ordeal today is just a continuation on that to get back at us both since you _NEVER_ accepted her into our family! Am I right? … AM I?!"

_Don't retaliate, it will only make things worse! _Seto bit on his tongue to keep himself from talking. As much as he wanted to deny it,- or at least defend his past actions,- his brother's words had been true at pointing out the times he'd caused such heartache. All except the last accusation. "You _need_ to calm down."

"No, I _need_ to be rid of _you_." Mokuba said as he stepped away so that his actions emphasised the words he had rashly spoken and would not go back on. "I refuse to walk behind and cower in your shadow any longer. Goodbye."

_Wait! _Seto desperately reached out to stop his brother from leaving and was completely taken by surprise at being struck on the left side of his face. He staggered, tripping over his own feet, resulting in a fall that lead to him hitting his temple hard on a nearby cube before he finally came to rest on the ground. With a wince he pushed himself up into sitting position and his fingers immediately found their way to the bleeding gash above his right brow.

"You better pray that Becky pulls through." The younger brother glared down hatefully. "Because if she doesn't, you'll have worse injuries than that. Now get out of my sight before I'm tempted to hit you again."

_I won't leave you like this._ Under vicious eyes, the fallen man returned to his feet, met the stare and defiantly stepped forward. _If I have to withstand your wrath whilst your head clears then so be it._

Angered and fuelled by his hunger for dominance, Mokuba launched himself at his brother, slamming him hard against the wall before unleashing perturbed fury in a bout of pummels to his torso.

There was no resistance whatsoever though Seto allowed himself to grimace at each blow he received whilst not a single sound left his mouth. Enduring such a beating like those from the days of his stepfather was very much like riding a bike; once you learnt, you never forgot.

_Damn it bro, fight back!_ His rage gradually came to an end as the strikes became less forceful. With a pang of guilt breaking through his molten armour, Mokuba let go and took a step back to survey the damaged he'd inflicted. _Oh my god!... What have I done?..._

Seto stood slumped against the wall. Though he felt weak and in pain from the thrashing he'd received his eyes shone warmly for the brother whose stored up negativity had now been spent. Seeing the remorseful look on the younger man's face his head rest back against the brickwork, eyes closed and a relieved smile tugged at his lips. _It's okay; everything is going to be okay._

_I'm sorry … I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to… _Mokuba's apologetic thoughts trailed off as he saw his brother's mouth curve upwards. The misinterpretation of what he assumed was a self satisfied smirk ignited his fury even higher than before._ Oh, I should have known! You never change! This is all just a game to you isn't it? A game that you think you've won! Well I have news for you … _He swiftly thrust his knee forward.

The sudden pain in his groin made Seto double over and he felt himself thrown to the floor.

"Does it hurt, _brother_?"

There was no reply to the snarled question that had been asked.

_Answer me!_ Now with a tenacious desire to gain superiority Mokuba drew back his leg and forcefully swing it forward to kick his brother whilst he was down. He was rewarded with a yelp from the assault that had shattered several ribs. "I said, _does it_ hurt?!"

"Yes." Seto whimpered. His eyes were scrunched tightly as he writhed in agony, trying to coil up to protect himself from further hostilities. "It hurts a lot."

"Good." The younger brother sneered in triumph. "Maybe now you understand the kind of suffering you helped to impose on my wife and daughter."

Not knowing what else he could do to attempt to bring his brother back down from the rage that had consumed him, Seto surrendered with wide eyes that practically begged for mercy. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry's not good enough." Mokuba hawked and spat down on his brother's face before walking away. "Have a nice life."

An arm trembled as he reached out for the turned back. "No, please … Mokuba … don't ..."

But it was too late. The door to the side room slammed shut and left the battered CEO alone where he lay. His outstretched arm dropped to the floor in forced defeat.

_Don't leave me._

_88888888888888888888888888888888_

"Like this Mokie, look!" Anathema demonstrated how to wash her hands in the hope that her younger brother would copy her actions.

He did, causing the soapy bubbles to rub between his multicoloured hands and clear the paint away.

"Oh what a clever big sister you've got!" Kisara praised in a silly voice as she helped her son to make sure that his hands were completely clean and then dried properly, now that their messy fun filled activity session was over.

"Can we play now, please?" The little girl asked excitedly.

"Of course you can." She replied with a smile and watched the two children disappear out of the washroom hand in hand as they returned back to their playroom.

With the mess cleared up and both children also sorted, Kisara could now focus on herself. She looked at her appearance in the tall mirror hanging on the wall and smiled fondly as she removed the apron concealing the growing bump on her front. It wouldn't be too much longer now before her expected due date. Gently patting her bulge she spoke to her unborn child. "Enjoy the peace and quiet whilst you can because you've got two very excited siblings and parents who won't give you a moments rest once you're here. Well I will, but I can't say the same for your father, brother and sister."

The sound of the front door closing carried down the hall, and deciding to delay her grooming for a little while longer, she raced off with a waddle to greet her husband after his hard day's work at the office.

"Welcome home, how was your day?" Kisara asked as she approached him, his back to her as he still faced towards the closed front door. She assumed the lack of reply indicated his usual refusal to discuss things whenever he'd had a particularly demanding or chaotic day. "Lucky for you, you just missed all the mess. You wouldn't believe how far Mokie can flick paint across a room."

Now by his side she went to wrap her arms around her man only for him to recoil from her touch. "Don't!"

"Seto?" Confused by his actions, she sought answers. "What is it, what's wrong?"

Slowly he turned to face his adoring wife, whose feelings he knew he had just hurt, and heard her gasp at seeing the state of him as dried blood clumped his hair together and partially revealed the deep cut he'd acquired. There were further signs of blood on his shirt and suit which was unkempt and crumpled, and a dark purple bruise just about covered the left side of his face.

"Daddy!" Anathema excitedly came running onto the scene and flung her arms around him only to let go the moment his scream of agony filled the air. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She apologised repeatedly as Kisara then steered her away to one side.

"It's okay, go back and play with Mokie."

"I didn't mean to hurt Daddy!"

"I know Baby, and he knows that too." She kissed the panicky girl to help calm her. "Don't worry; you just go and play and have fun now."

Anathema nodded with a feint smile and made her exit.

Once she had gone, Kisara rounded on her husband who had made his way over to the staircase and used its balustrade for support as he stood there breathing heavily in his attempt to try and regain his composure. "Let me see." She demanded.

There was no chance to protest as he had been too slow to stop her from peeling up his shirt to reveal the discolouration beneath the white scars of his past as well as the broken ribs poking his skin upwards.

"No wonder you didn't want me to touch you." She frowned and suppressed the internal urge of wanting to seek a bloody and painful revenge against whoever had harmed the man she loved. Empathetically she glanced up at him. "What happened?"

Seto hesitated for a moment as he tried to string sentences together in his mind before he spoke aloud. "There was an accident outside Kaiba Corp … Becky … car … it hit her … critical … the baby …" He turned away with pursed lips and eyes watering as he found it too difficult to continue with his explanation.

"Poor Becky." Kisara whispered sadly. Clearly seeing that he was distraught from the experience she wanted nothing more than to pull him close to her, but held herself back in fear of causing him more pain from touching his injured body. Gingerly she raised her hand and stroked his arm to at least provide him with a little comfort. "That doesn't explain what happen to _you _though."

Silence.

"Darling, who did this? Who hurt you?"

More silence.

"Talk to me Seto."

His waterlogged eyes returned to meet hers and his mouth trembled as he tried to form his brother's name. But it was no good, he didn't have any strength left to reveal the identity of his tormentor or details about the fight they had resulting in them parting ways. Instead he collapsed down onto the stairs and gave a strangled sob.

Kisara seated herself beside her husband and placed an arm around him to entice him closer to her. "You're home. You're safe. Nobody can hurt you here."

Shakily, Seto's hands raised and grabbed hold of his wife. He clung on to her whilst he buried his face in her shoulder and wept harder than he had ever done before.


End file.
